Maryland Heads to Capital One Field for Day Six of Camp

Maryland Athletics

8-9-2014

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland football team strapped on full pads for the second straight day, but moved practice to a new venue Saturday afternoon. After five straight days at the on-campus practice facility, the Terps hit the field at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium for day six of preseason camp.

Of the many training camp storylines, kicker Brad Craddock is one that stands out. Upon arriving in College Park two seasons ago, Craddock possessed little to no technical training in his craft. But over the last two years, he has developed into a consistent place-kicker enough to draw attention from the Lou Groza award committee, which named Craddock to the 2014 Lou Groza Watch List.

The native of Adelaide, Australia, has worked extremely hard to reach this point and continued to train over the summer to fine tune his technique working with former Baltimore Ravens kicker Matt Stover.

"My first year was kind of tough," said Craddock. "I got to work with Matt Stover after my second year and really just focused on consolidating that stuff with him coming into this season working out with him as much as I could, whenever I could. I really focused on technique and being more consistent every time I kick."

Craddock’s transformation has been so dramatic since arriving in College Park that head coach Randy Edsall believes it is something that should be commended.

“I don’t know if there’s a harder worker on our team in terms of working to prepare himself to be the best he can be,” said Edsall. “You talk about the work he’s done on his own to make himself the kicker he is today is remarkable. You have to congratulate the young man. He’s one of those guys that is a student of the game and a student of kicking and the art of kicking. He’s improved tremendously since he first got here.”

Along with the emergence and development of Craddock, the return of wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a deep and talented receiving corps arguably makes the unit one of the better ones in the Big Ten.

“I think I've gotten better every day,” said Diggs. “As a group, we have gotten better every day. We are coming towards the middle of camp. It's all about putting it together in the scrimmage tomorrow."

Maryland will break with the normal practice routine on Sunday and suit up for a scrimmage before meeting with the media Monday for its annual Media Day.

-Maryland-The Maryland football team strapped on full pads for the second straight day, but moved practice to a new venue Saturday afternoon. After five straight days at the on-campus practice facility, the Terps hit the field at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium for day six of preseason camp.

Of the many training camp storylines, kicker Brad Craddock is one that stands out. Upon arriving in College Park two seasons ago, Craddock possessed little to no technical training in his craft. But over the last two years, he has developed into a consistent place-kicker enough to draw attention from the Lou Groza award committee, which named Craddock to the 2014 Lou Groza Watch List.

The native of Adelaide, Australia, has worked extremely hard to reach this point and continued to train over the summer to fine tune his technique working with former Baltimore Ravens kicker Matt Stover.

"My first year was kind of tough," said Craddock. "I got to work with Matt Stover after my second year and really just focused on consolidating that stuff with him coming into this season working out with him as much as I could, whenever I could. I really focused on technique and being more consistent every time I kick."

Craddock’s transformation has been so dramatic since arriving in College Park that head coach Randy Edsall believes it is something that should be commended.

“I don’t know if there’s a harder worker on our team in terms of working to prepare himself to be the best he can be,” said Edsall. “You talk about the work he’s done on his own to make himself the kicker he is today is remarkable. You have to congratulate the young man. He’s one of those guys that is a student of the game and a student of kicking and the art of kicking. He’s improved tremendously since he first got here.”

Along with the emergence and development of Craddock, the return of wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a deep and talented receiving corps arguably makes the unit one of the better ones in the Big Ten.

“I think I've gotten better every day,” said Diggs. “As a group, we have gotten better every day. We are coming towards the middle of camp. It's all about putting it together in the scrimmage tomorrow."

Maryland will break with the normal practice routine on Sunday and suit up for a scrimmage before meeting with the media Monday for its annual Media Day.